Shrimp exports to Australia in the first quarter rose to 20 million USD, or double the value achieved in the same period last year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.

Following a slow start in January, exports surged in the next two months, making Australia the sixth largest importer of shrimp from Viet Nam .

Most of the exports were processed products.

Last year, processed shrimp products accounted for 82.6 percent of total shrimp exports to Australia , with sugpo prawn accounting for almost two-thirds of that.

Figures from the International Trade Centre show that Vietnam has been the largest supplier of processed shrimp products to Australia in the last four years.

Vietnam exported 436 million USD worth of the crustacean in the first quarter./.